POLL: The cult following of e30's has.....

[VinniE30]

Did you guys ever consider that increased prices are not the result of increased e30 following but rather just from the car getting older and harder to find in good condition?

I wouldn't necessarily correlate forum membership or traffic with cult following either because it's likely to also just be a result of increased popularity of car forums in general and the existing members posting more. R3V could be getting larger and more active for any number of reasons.. there's a lot of people that regularly post on here that don't even have e30s.

But I think that like any car, as the model gets older, moves from more non-enthusiast owners to more enthusiast owners.
The non enthusiast rich yuppies will usually just a newer model. I think with the car being more than 20 years old most owners are enthusiasts with the exception of some older folks that just want to hold onto it. But that brings up another point, is the older type gentleman, that's non-forum friendly, but still enjoys his e30 and even mods it still part of the cult following? I'd say he's an enthusiast but not part of the scene. To be part of the scene you have to go to at least talk to other owners online or go to meetups.

[M3Philipp]

That is true Vinnie.
I have seen old people driving prefacelift E30s around in my town, they just fit into their brown or white colored cars, like they are the first owners.
I always think, these eldery people dont know about us, young people enjoying the E30, they maybe dont even use the internet at all.
However, I would not call those enthusiasts.
When I flash lights to say hi, they just dont get it. :-D
These, you can find here...

[10Toes]

[F34R]

I seriously remember, 5 years ago, spending all damn day at the junkyard picking the best parts. E30s and E28s everywhere. It was my Zen area.

Now:
Fucking vultures everywhere. All late model cars are stripped after 2 hours at the yard.

this^ I hate that the e30 is gaining more respect. I wish people would just leave the parts there for me!

[E30 Wagen]

I'd say the popularity has gone up, but not by that much. I think mostly it's become more recognized as a potential drift machine, which I think is a shame because e30's deserve much more than to be built up for that single, retarded purpose.

I think the age range has shrunk as the older crowd matures and "upgrades" to new BMWs. This leaves more poor college kids buying e30's who want to have fun with them on the cheap.

I voted that the e46 will become the next e30, but i'm biased because I want a facelift e46.

[KenC]

There's no option for interest staying the same.

I still like them even though I don't have one.

[ALYKZANDYR]

Sure the E46 will have a following around it but i think it may be the last 3 series to have it though.

The E9X are so complex compared to E46 that when the current owners move to F30 and beyond, they will be way to expensive to maintain/repair as there is little on them you can fix yourself. much like the E36 it will become a parts car generation. and all these new cars are made to be recycled anyway.

I think the E34 was the last BMW generation to be engineered and built to last like the E30 was.

[5spoke]

This poll needs a "The e30 popularity increased because the fucking hipsters and VW crowd found e30's"

[e34croak]

This poll needs a "The e30 popularity increased because the fucking hipsters and VW crowd found e30's"

My thoughts exactly. :up:

[drumad]

This poll needs a "The e30 popularity increased because the fucking hipsters and VW crowd found e30's"

So, most people here liked e30s before every one else knew they existed. Isn't that being a hipster in itself?

[J308]

I seriously remember, 5 years ago, spending all damn day at the junkyard picking the best parts. E30s and E28s everywhere. It was my Zen area.

Now:
Fucking vultures everywhere. All late model cars are stripped after 2 hours at the yard.

Yeah, what is with that? Sport seats, IS spoilers, gone.

Where the hell are they going? I don't see them on the bay, and I don't see them on my man craig's list.

Is there some idiot somewhere with a garage full of IS spoilers? Ah well, at least the hard-to-get-to shit is still there.

[FunfGan]

So, most people here liked e30s before every one else knew they existed. Isn't that being a hipster in itself?

Yeah, you guys like them before they were cool. Hell, before even liking these before other people liked them was cool.

[Simon S]

rob.

lol

[Jand3rson]

It's been just over 10 years in the E30 scene for me now, and I still love them just as much now as I did then. E30s were my gateway drug into the Euro scene.

They've become more popular as the years have gone by because they've gotten cheaper, and more and more people have gotten into them because of their popularity and aftermarket support.

I think it's great how popular they have become, and while I do get occasionally irritated by the mindset of the super-trendy kids who jumped into them from the VW or the Japanese scene, I don't waste my time worrying about the scene becoming over-saturated, because in a few years, the "trendy" aspect of them will fade away, and so will the kids that bought them because of it, and what will be left in the wake will be the same crowd of die-hard enthusiasts that were there before it.

[TurboJake]

IDGAF if this makes me a hipster.

There were three things I saw and remember while riding in the back seat of my mom's old Volare while going back and forth to Indiana to see my dad at Grissom AFB.

I saw a ford probe. With it's pop up headlights and cool sounding woosh noise, and knew I had to have one.
I saw an E30 with it's four headlights, and knew I had to have one. Only reason I knew later on is because my mom said that the 3 series is a pretty little car.
I saw an F150 ram into the back of it at 30mph, and the city of Chicago's mayor apologized to us that the roads were so bad.

I have what I knew I had to have since I was 5.